The present invention relates generally to a caddy for vacuum cleaner tools and accessories.
Upright vacuum cleaners in all of their designs and permutations have become increasingly popular over the years. Today""s upright vacuum cleaners generally incorporate a nozzle assembly which rides on wheels over the floor surface to be cleaned. A canister assembly is pivotally mounted to the nozzle assembly. The canister assembly includes an operating handle that is manipulated by the user to move the vacuum cleaner to and fro across the floor. The canister assembly also includes either a bag-like filter or a cyclonic separation chamber and filter combination to trap dirt and debris while substantially clean air is exhausted by a fan that is driven by an onboard electric motor. It is this fan and motor arrangement that generates the drop in air pressure necessary to provide the desired cleaning action. In most upright vacuum cleaners sold today, a rotary agitator is also provided in the nozzle assembly. The rotary agitator includes tufts of bristles, brushes, beater bars or the like to beat dirt and debris from the nap of a carpet being cleaned while the pressure drop or vacuum is used to force air entrained with this dirt and debris into the nozzle of the vacuum cleaner.
One of the foremost attributes of upright vacuum cleaners is the fact that they are user friendly. They provide thorough and efficient cleaning and generally may be easily directed and controlled to clean the work area. Most individuals find them easier to manipulate than canister vacuum cleaners when cleaning a floor. More specifically, many individuals find that canister vacuum cleaners are a nuisance to drag along behind them as they clean a work area.
In order to add to the versatility of upright vacuum cleaners and also to eliminate the need for having both an upright and canister vacuum cleaner, many upright vacuum cleaners are now equipped with various tools and cleaning accessories such as extension hoses, wands, upholstery brushes and crevice cleaning tools. These tools and accessories allow the upright vacuum cleaner to be converted to complete special cleaning applications such as the cleaning of furniture and draperies and hard-to-reach areas where the size of the upright vacuum cleaner would otherwise prevent cleaning.
Of course, user convenience considerations require that the tools and accessories be quickly and conveniently available to the upright vacuum cleaner operator. Accordingly, many upright vacuum cleaners are provided with tool storage compartments that are generally built in to the canister assembly. Still others are provided with removable caddies that hold the various tools and cleaning accessories. Such caddies may be mounted and carried on the housing of the upright vacuum cleaner or removed and stored at a remote location as desired by the operator.
Removable caddies known in the art are typically molded from lightweight plastic materials. These caddies include various resilient clips, receptacles and specially shaped relief features specifically sized, shaped and adapted to hold the tools and cleaning accessories. Accordingly, it has been necessary in the past to make these caddies from multiple sections which are secured together by various fasteners, usually in the form of rivets or screws. As a result, removable caddies have generally been relatively expensive to produce.
In accordance with the purposes of the present invention as described herein, a novel two-piece caddy for holding vacuum cleaner tools and accessories is provided. Advantageously, the two-piece caddy holds all the tools and accessories necessary to convert an upright vacuum cleaner, or for that matter an extractor, for specialized cleaning tasks such as the cleaning of upholstery, drapes, furniture and hard-to-reach areas requiring a wand and a crevice cleaning tool or small brush. The caddy is relatively inexpensive to produce as it only requires the molding of two sections which may be reliably snapped together and secured without the use of a separate fastener.
The two-piece caddy comprises a first body section including at least one accessory receptacle and a second body section including at least one accessory engaging clip. The two body sections are secured together by a fastenerless connection. In one embodiment, one of the first and second body sections includes a handle. Additionally, one of the first and second body sections includes a substantially keyhole shaped aperture. This aperture allows for the hanging of the caddy on a nail or hook which may be secured in the wall, for example, in a closet at a convenient height and location for storage of the caddy when not in use on the upright vacuum cleaner.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a vacuum cleaner mounting lug is provided on one of the first and second body sections. The mounting lug may be provided with an air port. In this way the lug may be positioned over an intake port or exhaust air vent and, for example, held in place by a bracket. There the lug helps to reduce vacuum cleaner port/vent noise while simultaneously allowing the free passage of the air.
Either of the first and second body sections may also include a vacuum cleaner mounting tab. In one preferred embodiment the mounting lug is provided adjacent a first end of the caddy while the mounting tab is provided adjacent a second opposite end of the caddy. The mounting lug may include four walls. The mounting lug is received in a cooperating recess formed in the housing of the upright vacuum cleaner. Together, the mounting tab and mounting lug provide two mounting points at opposite ends of the caddy that secure the caddy in position on the upright vacuum cleaner. Positive connection is further ensured by including a detent on the caddy for engaging a cooperating lip formed on the vacuum cleaner body.
The first and second body sections are secured together by a plurality of fastening tabs on one of the sections and a cooperating plurality of fastening notches for receiving the fastening tabs on the other of the sections. The fastening tabs may be dovetailed and extend outwardly in different planes such as perpendicular planes in order to provide a secure connection between the two sections without the use of any separate fastener components.
In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, a two-piece caddy and vacuum cleaner accessory assembly is provided. That assembly includes a first body section including first, second and third accessory receptacles and a second body section including first, second and third accessory engaging clips. The two body sections are secured together with a fastenerless connection as described above.
The assembly further includes an extension hose. The first receptacle is adapted for releasable receipt of a first end of the extension hose, the second receptacle is adapted for releasable receipt of the second end of the extension hose and the first and second engaging clips are adapted for releasable engagement of the intermediate section of the extension hose. The assembly also includes a wand. The third receptacle and third engaging clip cooperate to releaseably receive and hold the wand.
In one embodiment the assembly also includes a fourth receptacle in one of the body sections and a nozzle brush. The fourth receptacle is adapted for releasable receipt of the nozzle brush.
The assembly may also include a crevice cleaning tool adapted for releasable receipt in the end of the wand. If desired, the wand may be made of telescoping construction. Still further, the first end of the hose may include a resilient latch for securing the hose in the vacuum pathway of the upright vacuum cleaner and the first receptacle may include a cooperating lip which may be engaged by that latch when the hose is in the storage position on the caddy.
Still other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in this art. In the following description there is shown and described one possible embodiment of this invention, simply by way of illustration of one of the modes best suited to carry out the invention. As it will be realized, the invention is capable of other different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modification in various, obvious aspects all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions will be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.